According to a news release this week, the alert system automatically routes to emergency responders critical detailed information about the location and nature of the incident. School faculty and staff are also notified and can share data and communicate in group messages through Raptor’s software, which also allows system administrators to configure options like mass notifications, intercom functions and strobe lights.
Raptor Technologies Chief Product Officer Chris Noell pointed out that substitute teachers or temporary staff don't always know a school's safety protocols, so this integration establishes a universal method for issuing emergency alerts.
"The Alertus Wi-Fi Panic Button, combined with the features of the Raptor Alert application, empowers all staff with another way to initiate emergency responses, significantly enhancing overall school safety," Noell said in a public statement.
Amanda Sassano, vice president of global channels and business development at Alertus Technologies, called the integration an enhancement of their existing safety offerings.
"By integrating our wearable panic button with the Raptor Alert system, we're providing an additional layer of protection that can minimize response times and ensure schools have the tools they need to respond to emergencies effectively," she said in a public statement.
Alertus provides mass notification and emergency communication services to more than 2,500 organizations around the world, servicing schools, industrial sites, corporate offices, health-care facilities, government locations and military installations, according to the company website.
This partnership was publicized just two weeks after Raptor announced that its Alert software would be integrated with RapidDeploy’s Next-Gen 911 platform to provide emergency responders with critical location, incident and caller contact information. That arrangement includes access to RapidDeploy’s Radius Mapping function, which gives callers a direct line of communication with dispatchers and is used by more than 1,500 911 centers in the United States, according to a recent news release.
As a response to school shootings in the past decade, states and districts across the U.S. are increasingly stepping up their investments in high-tech security systems. At the start of the 2023-2024 academic year, FirstNet — AT&T’s dedicated telecommunications network for first responders — was made available to schools. That system, which is shared by 26,000 public agencies in the U.S. including emergency first responders, hospital emergency rooms and utility companies, also provides school personnel with panic buttons.
According to the nonprofit Make Our Schools Safe, legislation known as Alyssa's Law in five states — Florida, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee and Texas — requires classrooms to have silent panic alarms that are directly connected to law enforcement agencies. Bills were also introduced in Nebraska, Arizona, Virginia, Oregon, Georgia, Michigan, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Utah and Oklahoma. The law is named after Alyssa Alhadeff, a 14-year-old student killed in the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in February 2018.
